[SDL] Updated: How to handle delayed functions and is abusing multithreading bad?

[daverave1212]

Old Question: What is the difference between SDL_Thread and std::thread?

Hi
What is the difference between these 2? Which should I use and why?
Thanks

Edit:
New question: What is the difference between pthread and SDL_Thread? Which should I use when programming a game with SDL and why?

Edit 2:
After everything so far, apparently std::thread is the best option.
As a follow up question, how can I manage the following issue properly?
Issue: I have objects. Each object has a pointer to a function. When the object is clicked, it calls that function. But I want to call certain functions after a delay. I have come up with 2 solutions:
1) The most intuitive solution is to call those functions as separate thread, but I will probably end with a ton of threads at some point.
2) I could do some gimmicks and call that function every time and check with if's the current frame and subtract from it's given delay 1 for each frame that passes and when it reaches 0, it actually calls that function, but that sounds horribly spaghetti.

I have heard threads are evil when it comes to game development and most games handle the main game in a single thread. Is there another way to handle what I want to do?

[mbozzi]

SDL_Thread is a platform-independent thread interface, written in C.
std::thread is a standard platform-independent thread, obviously written in C++.
You should prefer std::thread.

[daverave1212]

Thanks for the answer, but why is that? Why should I prefer std::thread over SDL_Thread?
To expand my question, I have tried and failed to use SDL_Thread properly with objects but I thought maybe I am doing something wrong.
Anyhow, I acknowledge the existence of 'pthreads' but I have not delved into them and only know they are in C.

What would be the difference between pthreads and SDL_Threads? Is there any advantage SDL_Thread has over pthread and why?

[coder777]

Those three kind of thread interfaces are doing the same: They create a thread. The differences are how they deal with the provided data/in this case the function.

std::thread is designed to work well with C++ classes, hence it would be wise to use the standard thread.

My suggestion: Usually prefer the standard library except you have a good reason to do otherwise.

[mbozzi]

Is there any advantage SDL_Thread has over pthread and why?

Mainly, platform-independence. libsdl provides a threading abstraction to facilitate portability.

In the presence of <thread>, the portability concern is moot -- I expect that std::thread is much more portable than SDL's wrapper, and certainly more portable than POSIX threads. Additionally, std::thread is written in C++ with C++ idioms in mind, and because it is standard it is widely used and well understood. Because of these qualities (C++-aware, standard, portable) std::thread (or standard facilities in general) should be preferred when possible.

[daverave1212]

Thanks all for the replies. They clarify much.

[gunnerfunner]

I want to call certain functions after a delay.

you could start off such function with a std::this_thread_sleep_for:
http://en.cppreference.com/w/cpp/thread/sleep_for

#include <iostream>
#include <thread>
#include <chrono>

int main()
{
    using namespace std::chrono_literals;
    std::this_thread::sleep_for(2s);
    std::cout << "Finally ... woken up!" << std::endl;
}